1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pushbutton switch mounting structure.
2. Background Art
JP-B2-3208574 discloses a conventional pushbutton switch. The conventional pushbutton switch has a switch case formed by connecting upper and lower housings to each other, a switch body accommodated in the switch case, and a pushbutton that operates the switch body by performing a push-down operation. The pushbutton is mounted in the switch case to be restrained by the upper housing from being detached therefrom. To prevent water from entering a storage region in the switch body from an operating clearance of the pushbutton, a sealing rubber member is disposed in the switch case so that the peripheral edge portion of the sealing rubber member is put into between the upper and lower housings.
However, the above conventional pushbutton is preliminarily incorporated in the switch case. Thus, for example, in a case where the color specification of the pushbutton is set, it is necessary to assemble the switch case by preliminarily taking the color specification of the pushbutton into consideration. Accordingly, the conventional pushbutton switch has a drawback in lacking production flexibility.
This problem can be solved by enabling the replacement of the pushbutton by, for example, connecting the pushbutton detachably to the rubber member. However, in the case of connecting the pushbutton to the flexible rubber member, generally, high connecting strength therebetween cannot be expected. Thus, troubles, such as detachment of a currently used pushbutton, tend to occur. Although the connecting strength between the pushbutton and the rubber member can be increased by setting an engaging margin for the engagement therebetween to be fairly large, in this case, the workability of mounting the pushbutton therein is extremely deteriorated. Thus, the productivity of the pushbutton switch is reduced. In addition, the possibility of damaging the rubber member is increased. Consequently, the reliability of the sealability of the pushbutton switch is reduced.